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Darwin didn't discover evolution; there were many other scientists before him who had argued that species were not immutable. In this part, you will explore the ideas of three scientists: Lamarck, Wallace, and Darwin.
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Read Jean Lamarck's "Zoological Philosophy." |
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What is the role of the environment in Lamarck's explanation? |
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What scientific approach is suggested by Lamarck's statement: "Nothing of all this can be considered as hypothesis or private opinion; on the contrary, they are truths which, in order to be made clear, only require attention and the observation of facts." |
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Was Lamarck's explanation scientific? Why or why not? |
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Can you propose any other explanations for Lamarck's observations about the disuse and use of organs? |
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Read Alfred Russel Wallace's "On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type." |
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How would you characterize Wallace's idea, "The life of wild animals is a struggle for existence?" How is Wallace's view scientific? |
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Wallace claims that "useful variations will tend to increase, unuseful or hurtful variations to diminish." How does this occur? What evidence does he cite? |
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How does Wallace's explanation differ from Lamarck's? |
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What do you think of Wallace's critique of Lamarck's hypotheses? |
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Read excerpts from Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. |
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What led Darwin to formulate his ideas about the origin of species? |
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On what did he base his explanations? |
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What did Darwin propose as the origin of species? |
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Was Darwin's explanation scientific? Why or why not? |
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How did Darwin attempt to determine how modifications of a species are accomplished? |
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How did Darwin explain the incomplete nature of his ideas? |
After reading all three scientists' views of evolution, answer this question:
What was the relationship of Lamarck's and Wallace's work to Darwin's? On a piece of paper, create a chart to compare and contrast Lamarck, Wallace, and Darwin's theories, and identify the connections between each evolutionary theory.
-- This activity is adapted from Teaching Evolution and the Nature of Science
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